Directors Talk: Martin Scorsese

This time up, we have one of the most acclaimed directors of all time, Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese!

Scorsese’s career dates back almost 40 years, and includes such legendary films as “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull”, “Goodfellas”, “Gangs of New York”, “The Departed” and “Hugo”. With such a storied career to discuss, you can be assured that we had a lengthy conversation about the man, and really hashed out our thoughts! Check it out!

Ian: Welcome back to another Director’s Talk with Ian, Fogs, and Cooper. This time we will be discussing one of the most widely acclaimed directors, well, ever: Martin Scorsese. This is going to be a little annoying for me, since I always spell his name wrong, So get ready spell-check! Scorsese came onto the film scene in the early 70’s and has had a steady career ever since. Yet he only won his first Oscar in 2006. So I’m going to start us off with this question: when should Scorsese really have won his first Oscar?

Fogs: Pulling no punches! Wow. Right to the heart of it. LOL.

I think one of the issues with Scorsese movies is that they have a tendency to be dark. It’s a handicap come voting-time. Not that dark films can’t win, or haven’t won, but when all things are considered equal, voters will turn away from the depressing and turn towards the uplifting. Which is how I always defend “Rocky” beating out “Taxi Driver”. But did you guys know, Scorsese didn’t get nominated for Best Director for Taxi Driver? Taxi Driver got nominated for Best Picture, but no nom for Scorsese there. LOL. Seriously. So in a year he didn’t even get nominated, it’s hard to say he should have won.

In ’81 he gets nominated for “Raging Bull”. But he’s up against Robert Redford. I mean, people love Robert Redford… plus, “Ordinary People” is a great flick, people sell it short because it only gets remembered for robbing “Raging Bull”. It may not have had a ton of technical directing involved, like “Bull” did, but it is full of awesome performances… “Raging Bull” wasnt the only film that had good acting in it that year. LOL And again, “Raging Bull” – GREAT, GREAT movie. But depressing as hell. And “Ordinary People” is no picnic either… but by comparison? So maybe here, but again, at least here I understand why he didn’t.

Thus, my answer is 1991, for “Goodfellas”. Costner? Seriously? And “Dances with Wolves” – although it’s a great flick and a huge hit – is a self-indulgent bloated spectacle. Do you know I’ve never owned that movie on DVD or Blu because all I’ve ever seen available is the “Director’s Cut” with an hour of additional footage? WHO WANTS TO ADD ANOTHER HOUR TO DANCES WITH WOLVES? WTF? Seriously.

Meanwhile, “Goodfellas” is a tour de force. An all time classic, and a remarkable, remarkable job from the directors chair. I mean, the pacing, the editing, those long camera shots, the music choices. God damn, I love “Goodfellas”.

’91. ’91 is my answer. Although I wont argue too hard with PG when he answers ’81. LOL

Ian: Don’t even get me started on the theatrical cut of Dances With wolves not being available. It angers me…

.

Cooper: He should have won for “Taxi Driver” in 77, “Raging Bull” in 81, and “Goodfellas” in 91. He also should have been nominated in 74 for “Mean Streets”.

Cooper: Lol, yeah, in case it isn’t obvious already, I love Scorsese. Though admittedly, I wouldn’t have given him the Oscar for The Departed. Nothing against “The Departed”, it’s a great film, but there are ones from 2006 I like more.

.

Ian: I would have liked him to win for “Taxi Driver”. But like Fogs said, I can see why “Rocky” was chosen instead. Still…

But you know what? Hitchcock didn’t win an Oscar at all, and he’s one of the most fondly remembered directors of his time. Scorsese’s “time” has spanned pretty much 40 years of film. So what do you think his legacy will be. What was his stamp of movies, so to speak?

Cooper: Hitchcock never winning is bullshit.

As for Scorsese’s legacy? I don’t mean to be general, but he’s gonna go down as one of the greatest directors of all time. Film buffs consider him one of the best, and he has tremendous respect from the directors that inspired him, the directors who were his peers, and he’s gone on to influence subsequent generations of filmmakers. He’s the man, straight up.

I think he’ll also go down as a director who lasted. A lot of Scorsese’s peers, talented though they may be, eventually fell to the wayside. Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, hell even George Lucas. All very talented people (well…maybe not Lucas) who eventually stopped being relevant. Scorsese on the other hand has constantly been a strong force in filmmaking. That’s not to say every movie he’s made has been a critical darling, but he still puts out great work consistently. Last year for example, he give us “Hugo”. I know you two weren’t crazy about it, but a lot of critics, myself included, think it’s brilliant.

So to summarize, he’ll go down as one of the best directors of all time, and one of the few to remain relevant.

Fogs: Absolutely one of the best of all time. And the movies he gave us, you can feel the art in them. You know? It’s not just a decent piece of entertainment or whatever, you can see how he’s using the medium to convey a story. Or an emotion. Or a thought. And Dan’s right, he definitely still does have his fastball. I wasn’t that fond of “Hugo” personally, but it’s still obviously a highly crafted movie, and most critics DO love it. Plus it wound up earning him ANOTHER Best Director nomination.

As to a stamp on movies, I’m not sure, aside from having inspired so many filmmakers. I’m not sure what innovations he’s going to be credited with, particularly… But you know he’s inspired legions of films. You can feel it when you watch them that they’re almost the descendants of Scorsese’s movies.

Fogs: Plus, right before “Hugo” you had “The Departed” and “Shutter Island”, both of which I AM a big fan of.

.

Cooper: Yeah, “The Departed” and “Shutter Island” were great.

.

.

Fogs: So here’s a question for you Dan. Has there ever been a Scorsese flick you DIDNT like? :D

.

Cooper: Nope, the only one I’ve seen that I didn’t love was “Casino”, and even that was good.

.

Fogs: OHH Man! I LOVE “Casino”! That’s one of his best! LOL

.

.

Cooper: I like it, but I don’t love it.

.

.

Ian: Cooper, I like that you mentioned how he’s a director who lasts, and you are certainly right. He hasn’t really dropped off that much. And eve though he’s known for tough crime dramas, he has been doing some genre experimentation too, with “Hugo” and “Shutter Island”, which I think is neat.

And although Cooper seems to be enamoured of Scorsese’s filmography, I have a confession to make: I don’t have a single Scorsese film in my movie collection.

Cooper: Really? Why not?

.

.

Fogs: LOL. There’s one of these ” … ” moments in all our conversations, it seems.

.

Ian: Yeah, and it usually has to do with some dissension from me. lol.

I admire Scorsese as a master film-maker and a true force in the industry. But personally, his movies just don’t speak to me. I’m just not a big fan of the movies themselves, and honestly I have trouble pinpointing just what it is. I want to say it’s because they’re darker, but I do still like other dark movies. So… I’m not sure what it is.

That’s not to say I dislike his films per se. I enjoyed both “Goodfellas” and “The Departed”, maybe because the energy was higher, I’m not sure. I can’t make up my mind about “Taxi Driver”, and “Raging Bull” I just dislike altogether.

Fogs: Uh oh. (Fogs whistles, quickly sidestepping out of the way from between Ian and PG)

.

Cooper: Well…I already knew Ian wasn’t the biggest Scorsese fan, so this isn’t really a surprise for me. To be honest, I can understand why Ian feels the way he does. There is something very inaccessible about a lot of Scorsese’s films. So even though “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull” are both films in my top twenty, I can understand why others don’t like it.

Fogs: It is a dark film. Very depressing. Kind of like the anti-Rocky. LOL. One of the things that’s such a testament to its greatness – to me – is that I’ve never been able to get past that. A lot of movies that are painful and dark to watch at first, “Scarface”, “Apocalypse Now”, “The Godfather”, even “Taxi Driver”… eventually the pain in them fades for me, and I just watch them. With “Raging Bull” there’s something there that hurts every time.

Great movie. Great, great movie.

Cooper: The first time I watched “Raging Bull”, the only thing I knew was that it was a boxing film people compared to “Rocky”. Because of this, I thought it would be like “Rocky”. I had no idea what I was in for, lol.

.

Fogs::D That’s awesome. LOL

.

.

Ian: My problem with “Raging Bull” is that the story is not appealing and the characters are simply despicable. I commend those involved for their involvement. I mean, De Niro went all out for the role, and its probably his best performance. And I truly love the cinematography of the boxing scenes. But I still hate the movie.

Cooper: I like the story a lot. As far as the characters being despicable, they’re supposed to be. But I do see your point, it can be hard to love a movie when you hate all the characters.

.

Fogs: The story is supposed to be a kind of a greek tragedy… The warrior with the fatal flaw, it’s classic.

As to the characters being despicable, I can see that, but like Dan says, that’s a bit of the point. And one of the things that makes Scorsese great. He likes to revolve his stories around the lowlifes of the world. Gotta love it.

Ian: I know that’s the point, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. You know, there are only a handful of the “great” movies that I really don’t like, and somehow in these talks we manage to touch on all of them! Our readers must think that I’m always of the minority opinion, which I swear isn’t true! So lets move on to Scorsese in the new millennium. How do you think his newer films of the last ten or so years hold up with all the rest?

Fogs: Just to quickly touch on the “We seem to be hitting them all” – we ARE covering the biggest directors, so it’s bound to result in a discussion of the biggest movies, you know? ;)

I haven’t seen any appreciable drop off in quality at all. “Hugo” and “Shutter Island” are completely worthy entries to his filmography… I hope he keeps throwing heat. He’s got a couple of interesting projects going on right now, I hope they kick ass.

Cooper: I love “The Aviator”, I love “The Departed”, I love “Hugo”, and I really, really like Shutter Island. His new movies, while I may not like them quite as much as I do his classics, are still excellent. And like Fogs mentioned, Scorsese has some interesting projects lined up. I can’t wait to see what he does with them.

Fogs: I know Ian’s answer already, probably, but PG, have you checked off his entire filmography? I have to confess I’ve never seen these: “Boxcar Bertha”, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “After Hours” out of his full length features. I’ve even seen most of his concert films/music documentaries.

I’m asking I guess because I’m wondering what you think about his “Less Popular” films… “King of Comedy”, “Last Temptation of Christ”, “Kundun”, etc…

Cooper: List of Scorsese films I haven’t seen:

-Who’s That Knocking at my Door?
-Boxcar Bertha
-Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
-New York, New York
-The King of Comedy
-After Hours
-The Color of Money
-The Last Temptation of Christ
-Cape Fear
-The Age of Innocence
-Bringing out the Dead
-Gangs of New York

So no, I haven’t checked off his entire filmography, but I’m working on it. Out of the less popular films you mentioned, the only one I’ve seen is “Kundun”, which I quite enjoy. I don’t think the character himself is very interesting, but the history going on plus Scorsese’s direction makes for an interesting film. I’ve also heard very good things about “The King of Comedy” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”.

Fogs: “Kundun”‘s great, so is the “King of Comedy”, that’s why I bring them up, I wanted to show off my Scorsese love.

But forget those. You should address your “Gangs of New York” and “Color of Money” related deficiencies asap, they’re two of his best films. They’re both incredible. “Color of Money” is one of my top 50 films of all time, one of my favorite Scorsese flicks. It’s a much better movie than people give it credit for… all pop culture gives it credit for is Tom Cruise whooping around with a pool cue (The Balabushka!! :D ) but in reality, it probably is one of Scorsese’s showiest films from a technical standpoint, it has an awesome performance by Paul Newman (his only Academy Award), and has some really great themes about aging and mentoring. I love that flick, you guys should get me off of this topic or I’m gonna do my MTESS “The Color of Money” right here and now.

“Gangs of New York”, too… Bill the Butcher! Damn, man, one of the sickest Scorsese characters ever.

Ian, have you seen these two at all?

And I don’t know that DeNiro has ever chewed scenery the way he does in “Cape Fear”, LOL. That movie to me is remarkable for the fact that DeNiro can hack it up and climb the walls and people think it’s a great performance because… well, he never did that, so it has to be a “Character”. I mean, which it was, but good grief. “Counselor…”

Ian: I enjoyed Gangs of New York. Bill the Butcher is a great character. But somehow I think people seem to forget that it’s a Scorsese flick. Same with Color of Money for that matter.
So lets see if we can do a top 3 then. my top 3 looks like this:
1. Goodfellas
2. The Departed
3. Umm…. Taxi Driver?

Ian: Well, we will have to wrap things up soon, so I will throw out a couple of things here. First, Cooper, what about “Taxi Driver” makes it your favourite of all time. And also, as per usual, what do you consider to be Scorsese’s signature film?

Cooper: It’s hard to put into words what exactly makes “Taxi Driver” my favourite film. Honestly though, it’s just perfect filmmaking on every level, to me anyway. From the acting, to the writing, to the score, and of course the masterful direction from Martin Scorsese. I know these are very general answers, but it’s hard for me to pinpoint why it’s my favourite, I just sort of know it is.

As for his signature film. In the public’s eyes, it’s “Goodfellas”, no question. It’s become a staple of pulp culture and even casual moviegoers are fans. Scorsese also has this reputation for making a lot of gangster films (even though he made tons of other films) and “Goodfellas” is his ultimate gangster film. Plus it features a lot of the rock music his movies are known for and it stars Robert De Niro.

But if we’re talking what captures him as a filmmaker, I’d say “Taxi Driver”. It deals with a lot of the themes his movies tend to, such as guilt, redemption, paranoia, violence, the dark side of society, etc. I also would say it was with “Taxi Driver” that Marty really developed his skills and style.

Fogs: I think his signature film has got to be “Goodfellas”. It’s his most popular, one of his most accessible, I think if you were going to play word association with people and asked them for the first movie that pops into their minds when you say Martin Scorsese, the answer would be “Goodfellas” like 7 out of 10 times. It may not be his best film artistically, it may more commercial than some of his others, but it’s still masterfully done, and features fantastic acting. That’s one that’s going to be remembered by Pop Culture a long, long time.

Ian: Hmm, I was going to say “Taxi Driver” actually, but perhaps I’m off base on that one. I just think it shows more of what he is about, with the darker subject matter and so on.

Well, that wraps up another Director’s Talk. Now we want to know what you, the reader, thinks. Do you connect to Scorsese’s films, or find them hard to embrace? Which are your favourites? We’ll see you in the comments!

57 thoughts on “Directors Talk: Martin Scorsese”

Wow brave Ian admitting to more admiring than loving Scorsese. I feel the same except with Goodfellas and The Departed. LOVED those two. Otherwise, a lot of very interesting and often brilliant movies but none that I want to watch again and again or put on my favourites list.

LOL! Well, sweet. I’m sure Ian is going to be really happy to see he got some support. :) As this was going on I was wondering if he felt like a ran into a buzzsaw, between PG and I we’re both big fans, you know?

I can understand where you’re coming from… of course, I dont agree… but I understand. There’s only been a few of his movies I’ve only seen once. Most I’ve watched multiple times. :D

Excellent discussion guys. It’s always hard to choose between Scorsese’s flicks but my top three would be
1: Raging Bull.
2: Goodfellas.
3: Mean Streets.
When will he ever work with DeNiro again though? Ive always thought they both brought out the best in each other. His use of Daniel Day-Lewis in “Gangs of NY” and Jack Nicholson is “The Departed” has recently been enough to wet my appetite but I long for another DeNiro project.

Despite my love for the DeNiro film’s, I actually think Taxi Driver is vastly overrated. It’s a good film but I think it’s more a film of scenes rather than an overall piece of work. Fogs I second your love for The Color Of Money, that’s one of his most underrated.

I had heard he offered DeNiro the Martin Sheen role in “The Departed”, but DeNiro was directing “The Good Sheppard” and couldnt do it. There’s some talk they may do a movie called “The Irishman” together, which sounded like more of a mob thing, but I’ve heard his next project is a Wall Street movie with DiCaprio… So. But hey, his work with DiCaprio has been great, so I dont mind.

I heard about 10 years ago that he had a mob film planned with DeNiro, Pacino and Pesci. It’s that “The Irishman” by any chance?
Apparently, Bill the Butcher was an original role for DeNiro also but for some reason or other he couldn’t do that either. Day-Lewis supposedly put a little DeNiro spin into his performance. I think it shows.

I’m not sure. I know there was another big name, but I wasn’t sure it was Pacino. Meanwhile, as of right now, its a rumor in the wind. LOL. IMDb has “Silence” (In the 17th century two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity.) with Daniel Day Lewis, The Wolf of Wall Street with Dicaprio and then the Sinatra biopic.

I hadnt heard that about DeNiro in Gangs. SO glad it went to Day Lewis. I cant imagine anyone else with that character now. So incredible. Maybe I should write that one up so I can teach myself up on it. I do love that movie.

DeNiro and Day-Lewis are my top two favourite actors. Bill the Butcher is one of my all time favourite characters. I must admit though, I could see a younger DeNiro pulling it off but Day-Lewis is exceptionally superb right enough. Another of my favourite actors is Jeff Bridges and apparently he was an original choice for Travis Bickle – I just can’t picture that but Day-Lewis could have done it well.

Without a doubt, Scorsese is an all-time great. I think a telling sign of how great and influential he was/is can be tied into the careers of two of our greatest actors; Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. That’s not to compare the careers of the two men, because the resumes definitely do not match up in that regard. But when you compare them during the time in which they worked with Scorsese, those films stand out. During De Niro’s prime he did most of his best work in Scorsese’s films. Leonardo’s career took a turn for the better after filming Gangs of New York, and I give him credit for being smart enough to stick with the man who always seems to get the best performances out of his cast.

YES! The Color of Money getting MUCH love in the early going. Whoo hoo!

That’s a great point about him bringing out the best in his stars. There’s no question that DeNiro benefited from his close association with such a great director (although in fairness, a couple of his most legendary roles were with other diretors GFII and Deer Hunter) and obviously DiCaprio resurrected his career and established himself as one of the best in the business when he began working with Marty. Good point Joe.

Scorsese is a god! Something about Taxi Driver soothes my soul. I feel at ease watching it, maybe its the score, or maybe I see a little Travis in me. I gravitate toward the darker more psychological type pieces so Taxi Driver is unbeatable to me. Like you said, Raging Bull is a hard pill to swallow so I rate it a little lower than Taxi Driver. But for pure buzz and filmmaking energy Goodfellas is king.

LOL… I’m laughing thinking of “Taxi Driver” as a soothing movie. :) I know what you mean, though, watch something enough times and you can take comfort in anything. It’s a great great great flick. I definitely love it too.

The score IS great. It’s unique that it really reuses the same music again and again, but I like it. Especially the sax piece, its great.

Scorsese is one of those directors whose films I am trying to make more of a conscious effort to see more of. Cooper’s right when he says that Martin has stayed relevant, he’s not drifted away. Heck he created Hugo last year (which I’ve still yet to see) and showed he’s more than just the darker films he’s loved for by film fans.

Scorsese is my favorite director. I love his journalistic directorial style, the gritty topics he covers, his music choices… the list goes on forever. One added plus for him, is that he is the only director that knows how to properly implement a montage. Some of my favorite parts of his movies are the montages, Goodfellas having my all time favorite.

I am sad to say that I’ve never seen The Color of Money, but it just shot to the top of my list.

Oh man, yeah, definitely Phil. If you’ve never seen Color of Money, you’re in for a serious treat.

Young hotshot era Tom Cruise, paired off with Paul Newman as his mentor, all directed by Scorsese? Thinkk about the awesomness of that! :D You’ll love it, even if you dont play pool!

Meanwhile, great point about the montages, I wish I had mentioned that, he is great at them. I love when they introduce Pesci’s crew at the Gold Rush in Casino to Cant You Hear Me Knockin’. Thats a great one in my book. :)

I must say that Scorsese is one director that I’ve never really gotten a feel for. In fact, I’ve seen a few of his movies without realizing they were his movies. I’ve seen Bringing Out the Dead (in theaters), Raging Bull, and Apocalypse Now, both theatrical and redux. And I don’t really think of any of them specifically as Scorsese movies. I would love to watch Hugo at some point in time, it looks like a great movie.

I remember really liking it as a very different movie than I had seen. It was when I was really into dark movies like Seven, Fight Club, 8MM, the Game, and this one was somewhere in the middle of all that.

Newman had veto power on choice of director for “Color of Money”, after all they couldn’t make it without him, and it went to Scorese not his Oscar director pal Redford. Says a lot! One thing unmentioned is New York itself! Has there been a greater film champion for the Big Apple than Scorese? Even Woody Allen can’t match him because he only does present-day New York stories. “After Hours” is a fav. A dark, dark comedy about after hours New York creatures and their world. Another must see Daniel!

A lot of the Scorsese classics are still sitting on my “need to see” list — but it’s worth noting that he does have a pretty good representation on that list, so it’s obvious a lot of people have been talking him up to me over the years. My top three works out the way it does simply because I haven’t actually seen a fourth:

1. Gangs of New York
2. The Departed
3. Boxcar Bertha

I figure, however, that I should be free from any guff from you guys about having only seen three since one of those three is one that you “big Scorsese fans” haven’t seen. ;) It’s all right, incidentally. Not great, but it’s watchable. 3 Stars. The other two get 5.

I haven’t seen enough of Scorsese’s work, let alone those of his competitors, to say when he “should” have gotten an Oscar. I will say that at least with The Departed, it’s a very well-directed film and an Oscar-worthy work. It’s not an “apology Oscar” like some awards seem to be, and I think that’s very much a good thing. Give the legendary director an award for doing a great job, not because “Oh crap, we haven’t given Marty an Oscar yet and he’s getting old.” Whether or not he should have had it sooner, he definitely earned it there.

Love me some Marty. From Raging Bull on. Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Gangs of NY, Casino etc. And lets not forget he directed the single best concert film in history, The Last Waltz, and the second best Lightning in a Bottle.

Didn’t love everything though. Shutter Island, Bringing out the dead, The Last Temptation of Christ, Aviator aren’t on my must see again list… well I might have to give Shutter Island another chance. Really didn’t fall for the premise, which kind of ruined it for me.

Martin Scorsese rocks! Great installment of Directors Talk! My top five favorite Scorsese movies are: 5. Gangs of New York; 4. Cape Fear; 3. Goodfellas; 2. The Last Temptation of Christ; 1. Color of Money. My least favorite, I am sorry to say is Shutter Island (I don’t LOVE Hugo either but it was cute enough to keep my attention). As for Shutter Island, I tried to like it, wanted so badly to like it. My problem with it is that I figured out the ending in the first 20-ish minutes & it made me angry that Scorsese disappointed me. Other than that I don’t have much bad to say about his films, although I’ve not seen his documentaries.

You dont have to be sorry to say it, I dont think bad mouthing Shutter Island is = to badmouthing say, Goodfellas. LOLI dont think SI was ever supposed to be a “twist” as much as a slow curve. Its one of DiCaprio’s best performances ever. He really loses his shit.

Scorsese is a living legend, and in my opinion (which means zip) the best director working today. He’s a national treasure. The funny thing is, he only has a handful of movies that make me stand up and say “Wow, this guy is one of the best ever”. But he has an insane amount of movies that are just a tiny tick below that. In baseball terms, he’s Hank Aaron- he’s never had a 60 or 70 HR season. Instead, he’s had a whole career full of 40 HR seasons.

I think I fall right down the line with Cooper on all of Scorsese’s movies.

Wow, Scorsese is a huge director to take on, great discussion! Love how you guys compared him and Hitchcock for a moment, perhaps the Academy didn’t want to make the same mistake never awarding Scorsese like they constantly snubbed Hitchcock. I haven’t met a Scorsese film I haven’t liked, but there are only a few I really love. My top 3 would be 1. Raging Bull 2. Goodfellas and 3. Hugo. Don’t laugh, I was surprised how much I enjoyed Scorsese’s kid friendly side.